U.S. brewer Sam Adams is planning a multichannel product launch for its new Cold Snap Belgian-style beer that includes a mobile sweepstakes, mobile advertising and social media components, Mobile Marketer reports. As part of the effort, Sam Adams will be incorporating Instagram into the campaign. "Instagram is an ideal vehicle, enabling consumers to show themselves enjoying the lifestyle," relates Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer of Mobivity. Read more on Sam Adams' Cold Snap campaign.

Much of the growth in Android smartphones is coming from forked Android operating systems, particularly in China, India and adjacent markets, according to ABI Research. One-quarter of all Android smartphones shipped in the fourth quarter of 2013 were of the forked variety, which is a significantly different version of the Android OS. Examples include Amazon's Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble's Nook tablets. The growth of forked Android OS smartphones is "significant for Android's owner Google, because AOSP does not offer Google's services (due to their unavailability in China), impacting Google's ability to monetize the Android ecosystem," comments Nick Spencer, senior practice director, mobile devices. Read more about forked Androids.

TechWorm offers some tips for CIOs to integrate BYOD into their firms. First, create a company policy that covers "everything." Second, slowly roll out the BYOD program and keep employees informed. Third, set strict guidelines for data and apps, such as which apps are allowed and which are permitted. Fourth, set guidelines for employee termination, which include procedures from removing corporate access and data from the employee's phone. "Integrating a Bring Your Own Device policy is beneficial to both the company and the employee, but there are many precautions that must be taken," the article explains. Read more about the TechWorm tips.

Dell has launched its Dell Wyse Cloud Connect product that offers an Android 4.1.2 device that is the size of a USB stick, explains InfoWorld. The device can turn a mobile high-definition link or HDMI-connected display into a thin client. "Originally known as 'Project Ophelia,' Cloud Connect doesn't limit the user to one kind of thin client connectivity, either. Clients can access systems via Citrix, Microsoft RDP, VMware thin clients, the Web itself, or through the wealth of apps available in the Android app store are built into the device," the report explains. Read more about Cloud Connect.

The proportion of U.S. adults who use e-books is increasing, but readers are not completely ditching the printed word, according to a Pew Internet Project survey of 1,005 adults. A full 28 percent of U.S. adults read an e-book last year, up from 23 percent in 2012. But around 70 percent of adults read at least one book in print last year, up four percentage points from 2012. Around 14 percent of adults listened to an audiobook last year. Read more on the Pew survey.

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